Getting Older Means Growing Up
by ItHurtsToBreathe
Summary: Joanna is your typical first year college student who is starting her streak of new college life with a change or two. Like for instance, maybe going out with her insanely hot neighbor Chris? Bad summary please R


**Summary: **A newly found college student has problems meeting new friends and embracing her girl-y side.

**Jo's POV**

"Goodbye honey we love you!" My Mom called as the old suburban pulled out of the drive-way. She,Dad, Matt, and Luke stood in front of the door waving me off. Matt and Luke are my two younger brothers. All together I have 7 brothers. It was no surprise I would grow up to be a tomboy, and a sporty chick. Okay so here it goes, Anthony, Jesse,Trent,Mark, and Steven(a.k.a Soggy) are my older brothers. Anthony is 20, Jesse is 19, Trent is 21, Mark is 25, and Steve is 18. As I said before Matt, and Luke are my younger brothers, they are both 13 and twins. See my Mom and Dad both have a mixture of miny mes. Anthony has Dad's sparkly blue eyes, and short straight brown hair, Jesse on the other hand has Mom's chocolate brown eyes, and curly bleach blond hair. Trent has Mom's looks(not in a girly way of course), Mark has Dad's looks, and Steven(Soggy) has Mom's looks. The twins have Dad's looks, and me I'm a mixture. I have straight bleach blond hair, and sparkly sky blue eyes.

Okay so about my brothers...well they're all just like me in one way, incredibly devoted to sports. Anthony, well he's a football player along with Jesse. Trent plays basketball. Mark runs track and Steven plays baseball. And the twins love soccer. Me? I do it all. Except for football because the coach wouldn't let me on the team because apparently women have to wear lingerie to be taken seriously in football, and people still don't take us seriously. Anyway back to the point, I've been playing sports my entire life, and my Mom doesn't care that I'm not some girly-girl who likes frilly laces, and pink. Actually I don't really act like a girl at all, even all of my friends are guys. Let's see there's Liem, Derek, Jadon, Nate, and Nick. Liem is how I say the dull one, Derek is the prankster, Jadon well he's Jadon, Nate is the lady killer, and Nick is the smart, but sporty one, and they've all been my friends since the third grade when I kicked there asses at soccer. In most girls opinion my friends are the hottest guys on Earth, but I would never think of them that way, and they don't think of me that way, except for once in middle school Nate kissed me, and I freaked out, because he was my best friend and everything. Anyway like I said we're all friends and we're sharing a student house in college, I mean a lot of people would say,"Five guys, and one girl? That's begbing for trouble!" But not in our situation.

I had arrived at the campus, it was a long drive but I made it, all the way from Chicago to Florida State. I had found the student housing then our house. I walked to it to find the door wide open."Guys?"I shifted the cardboard box in my hands,nudging it up with my thigh. I walked around the dorm, other cardboard boxes, a orange couch that I immediately noted as Liem's choice."Guys?"I called again, setting the box down on the wooden floor and wiped at my forehead pulling at the back of the red short shorts I had thought would be a comfortable choice. Out of no where a blond came giggling out of one of the doors,her shirt on backwards. She noticed me and fixed her posture and left the one story house. Nate came out of the room about five seconds after the girl had gone."Getting an early start?"I raised my eyebrows sarcastically. He had no shirt on, his tan muscular chest was exposed, and I could have traced out every line of his abs if I put a piece of paper to his chest...

"What can I say, the ladies love me." He shrugged it off and retreated to the room, coming back with a t-shirt on.

"So, who's sleeping where?"I asked, taking a quick scratch at the back of my neck.

"You,and Derek in one room. Jadon and Nick in one,and Me and Liem in the other one." He explained. I liked Derek, he always made me laugh, even when I didn't feal like it. That was a plus with having guys for friends, they know how to make you how to laugh know matter what mood you're in, and they totally down size on the drama.

"I hope you just came out of your room, I don't want you coming in-" I stopped myself, and noticed the un-intentional dirty joke I had chuckled. "Just don't bring your girls in my room,"I rolled my eyes.

"Our room!" Derek chimed in as he swung into the house his curly mess of chocolate brown hair had been cut so it didn't hang in his eyes anymore. I guess he had decided to cut it that day at the lake on the fourth of July.

_Flashback_

_"Cowabunga!"Derek bellowed as he swung from the rope that connected to the tall tree and into the mirky lake water. He flipped mid-air, and slipped into the water with a perfect dive._

_"I'd give that a five!" Nate called out to Derek as he broke up from the water his shaggy hair in his eyes._

_"Boo!" I hit Nate on the arm,"I'd give it a solid 9.5!"_

_"Oh please, he arched his back, and split his legs during the dive!" Nate acused. I hit him again._

_"Why don't you try it then Mr. Perfect?" I snapped. Sure enough Nate got up and snatched a hold of the rope as it swung back and forth gently. He tug at the rope before pulling it back as his toes curled against the slick muddy hill his feet climbed and he stopped as far as he could go. He tugged back and started to run forward jumping up in the air and flying out over the lake and letting go his body made the perfect form as he dove into the lake. _

_While I gawked at Nate on the other side of the small lake I saw a fast flame and Derek freaking out...his bushy hair had caught on fire..._

_End of Flashback_

Derek wrapped his muscular arm around my shoulders and smiled his teeth as white and shiny as ever."Roomies! We get to be roomies Jo!" Derek was like another brother even though I wasn't lacking in that department.

"Yup." I nodded and picked up my cardboard box of things and dropped it on the bed in my new room. There were bunk beds, so I sat the box of things on the bottom bunk. I jogged out to my car that was parked infront of the tiny house and grabbed a bag of clothes. I started to walk back into the house my eyes focused on the ground when I heard,"Hey, watch out!" I looked to my left where the noise had came from. A football was flying straight for my head, my instincts told me to crouch and cover my head, but my body told me to jump for the ball, so I jumped for the ball, dropping my duffle bag. The ball landed in my hands perfectly, not making the slightest noise. The group of frat-boys the next house over stood astonished, when one came jogging over a toothy grin spread across his face. He was about a foot taller then me, his eyes were a light green, his skin tan, and his hair dark and cropped short. I swiped at my duffle bag throwing it over my shoulder,and tossed the football to the cute guy who had stopped jogging when he was about a foot away.

"Hey, I'm Chris."He winked.

"Jo."I said stupidly. I smoothed the thin strands of hair that stuck out of my ponytail.

"Please tell me that's just short for Joan, and you're not a guy." He knitted his eyebrows together in worry. My eyes widened,_He thinks I'm a guy!_ I thought.

"It's short for no I'm not a guy."

"Good catch Joanna." He smiled. I had to restrain my hands from running them through his hair, it looked so soft! My eyes drifted lower, to his chest. He wasn't wearing a shirt, his chest was exposed like Nate's was, but I didn't think of Nate's chest the way I was thinking of this guys. Same looking ripped smooth muscles, different too had a perfectly sculpted torso, and tiny beads of sweat dribbled themselves down his abs. I wanted to reach out and feel his biceps, but of course I didn't.

"Yeah, well I kind of grew up with five older brothers so, it' not a big surprise." I laughed.

"Wow, five! I'm an only child." He replied running his hands through his hair, like I yearned to. I was so caught up in his looks I didn't hear the man on the bike shouting at us to get out of the way, the tire of the back rammed into my ass,causing me to fly forward, and tackle Chris.

"Sorry!"The man called as he swerved around our bodies. I blinked down at Chris who didn't look the least bit uncomfortable. I then realized my body was pressing against his in all of the wrong places...well right places if we were trying to reproduce with our clothes on.

"Jo, hurry up already, everyone's ready but you!" Nate called from the doorway of the house.

"Boyfriend?"Chris asked. I jumped up quickly wiping at the back of my shorts, and fixing my hair.

"Nate? Whoa no! Nate's a friend, just a friend. Frankly I don't think he's really ever had a girlfriend, no girl would put up with him for more then a night!" I laughed,"Mot guys I know are like full alleged whores!" I quickly threw my hand over my mouth in apology. I had just called this guy a whore basically. Was that an insult? Did it work the same way for guys as it does for girls? "I'm so sorry!" I laughed again.

"A lot of girls I meet usually don't call me a whore, but I can make an exception."He smiled, and winked.

"Yeah, well I've got to go. It was nice meeting you Chris!" Believe it or not I don't have a lot of experience with the whole guy thing, so I didn't know what to say. Before he could reply I scurried off into the house to find three guys staring at me. Nate looked angry, Derek looked curious, and Nick looked surprise. I hadn't known Nick was here...

"Who's that?" Nick asked. They were all dressed in casual clothes, you know, jeans and a t-shirt, brushed hair. Their skin smelled of after shave...wait, they _shaved?_

"Um, that's Chris, he's hot isn't he?"I didn't talk much about guys, but this guy just had something about him that made me want to drag on, and on. I could probably talk for three hours just about his eyes!

"Excuse me?" Nate raised an eyebrow.

"Wait, you guys didn't think I was gay did you?" I cracked a cocky smile.

"No, but...just get ready! We're going to a party, Jason and Li are gonna meet us there." Nate replied.

"I'm not in the partying mood...I think I'll just get settled in first." I said as I rubbed at the back of my neck, I do that a lot.

"Whatever." Nate rolled his eyes and started for the door. He never acted like a jerk before, why was he being an ass now? Even little things like the snobby 'whatever' get on my nerves. He can be so annoying. Derek and Nick followed behind him.

"Derek, no girls!" I called as they set out for their destination. I did not want Derek to bring home a girl and you know _do_ her while I was in the same room...totally awkward.

The guys had left and I had gotten everything out of my car and fixed it up nicely in our room. I also fixed up the living room so the TV would work. I put my things in the cabinet in the bathroom, and took a shower. I changed into my pj's and sat down for a movie, I ended up picking _Juno_. A movie that didn't relate to me in the slightest way but still made me want to laugh, and smile. I loved it when she tried to hang herself with the liquorish rope. I had fallen asleep on the couch when the guys came home. When they walked through the door I was nestled up in a quilt I had packed, my head resting on one end of the couch my legs scrunched up halfway to my chest. The sound of the door opening spooked me awake, but when I heard their voices I calmed myself and kept my eyes closed, trying not to let them flicker open.

The sound of their shuffling feet came to a stop." Look at her, all peaceful, we don't see that a lot." Jadon whispered. If I weren't fake sleeping I'd hit him.

"She actually looks kind of cute, all snug and what not." Liem replied then added quickly,"Cute in the newborn baby way."

"Should we like...take her to her bed, or...?"Nick asked.

"That's what my dad does for Lizzie." Lizzie was Derek's little sister she's one of the cutest things on the Earth.

"What if we drop her though?" Liem asked.

"I say we leave her. I mean what if she farts in her sleep?"Nate questioned. God he's annoying.

"Girls don't fart." Derek said.

"But Jo doesn't count as a girl though..does she? I mean yeah she's got...assets but she's never been girly." Nick whispered. Honestly were they really having this conversation right now?

"She has nice assets." Liem muttered. I heard a slap.

"She's gonna start dating soon." Derek sighed. Oh God had they not realized I had dated a guy before? Who do they think they are...my freaking Dads?

"Yeah but...what if she dates some one like Nate? Or the real thing? No offense man but you're like a ticket taker at Disney World. Take it and move on to the next person. " Nick was the quietest one but when he did talk he said something witty...mostly _all _of the time.

"Not even a,'wow you're good' or 'I'll call you'! You leave 'em high and dry man."Liem chimed in. I laughed in my head," TRUE DAT!"

"She would die if some one did that to her."

"Yeah. Jo isn't the big tuff-ey she comes off as. I was there when she saw Steve in the hospital after the accident last summer. She cried." Derek sounded sincerely concerned, but I was still a little angry he did see me cry and I didn't like that.

"'s just go to sleep, those sorority girls are tiring."Nate shuffled off to his room, the others did the same. I let my mind shut down once again and I fell asleep.

In the morning I woke up to the sound of clanking bowls, and god knows what. I trudged to the kitchen where Derek sat eating a bowl of cornflakes, and Nick ate oatmeal. Liem had dragged himself out of his room fully dressed. I fixed a bowl of cereal and sat down at the small round table. Derek, and Nick stared at me in amazement, like I was an alien, and they had discovered new life."What?" I asked.

"Um, you're..."Nick didn't finish his sentence they just starred.

"Honestly Jo? Put the girls away."Nate snorted as he strutted into the room like a male model. I looked at him confused, then I looked down at my ? They were freaking out over this? My shirt had somehow magically had gotten caught under my bra. How that happened I do not know. I pulled my shirt up.

"Seriously guys? If you're gonna freak out over that I might as well move out now..." I muttered as I devoured the bowl of cereal."Honestly you'd think of all people _you_ guys would have seen boo-"

"We get it!" Jadon shrieked.

After our awkward breakfast I got dressed and brushed my mess of a hair. As I looked at myself in the mirror I sighed,"You look horrible." So I did what I never do. I broke out the curling iron. See if you know me you know that I'm not the best when it comes to hair and makeup and all that, but my mom did teach me the essentials, so I know how to make myself look good, but I don't do it often. When I was through curling my hair I looked like a lesser version of Taylor Swift. I applied a little light pink lip-gloss, and I looked nice actually." I look good."I smirked. I decided to go all out, I put on mascara too! God I felt brave! I marched to my room, I probably looked stupid but I was doing my model walk, I think the guys payed no attention to me what so ever so I'm cool with that. I strode over to the closet where my clothes hung.I picked out a loose white top, and some fitting Capri blue jeans. This was so unlike me, being all girly and what not. I slipped on some flip-flops and studied myself in the full length mirror on our door. I looked pretty good, like a girl one of them would be bringing over soon enough. I frowned.

"Dude! There's a girl in our house!" Derek laughed. I rolled my eyes at him."No seriously, why are you all...frilly today?"

"I was thinking maybe I'd run into Chris." I honestly replied. I guess that was the real reason for all of this. I had never really met a guy I actually liked, and I was in college now, so who cares if I date around? My parents won't, and I don't have a curfew anymore! I'm not a teenager like Juno in that movie! I can't become a teen mom! Because I'm not a teen! SO who cares if I you know? Well, I don't really plan on, having sex any time soon, but if the time comes so be it.

"Who's Chris?" Jadon asked.

"He's one of our neighbors, so to Jo over here,"Nick pointed to me," He's fair game."

"Oh shut up!" I muttered as I slapped him lightly on the arm. Derek made whistling sounds and the guys howled with laughter.


End file.
